Fantasy

Fantasy Football Week 10 Rankings: Quarterback

Unless you're well out of playoff contention in your fantasy football league, chances are you need a win this week. You either need a win to stay in playoff contention, or you need to win to move closer to a first-place regular season finish and/or a bye. Unfortunately, the fantasy gods (and Roger Goodell) couldn't care less about what you need, which is why there's a quarterback-sacking bye upon us (Derek Carr, Carson Wentz, Alex Smith), plus injuries to Deshaun Watson and Jameis Winston. Our Week 10 fantasy QB rankings definitely show the effects of these missing players.

Bad matchups for some normal starters don't help either. Kirk Cousins (vs. Vikings), Marcus Mariota (@ Bengals), and Philip Rivers (@ Jaguars) are more borderline than usual This opens the door for guys like Tyrod Taylor (vs. Saints), Jared Goff (vs. Texans), Josh McCown (@ Bucs), and Eli Manning (@ 49ers) to reach top-10 status. You're probably shuddering at the idea of starting either New York quarterback this week, but McCown has been solid most of this year and has a great matchup, and Eli...well, just look at the matchup and move on.

Tom Brady (@ Broncos) and Drew Brees (@ Bills) also have tough matchups, especially if bad weather descends on either Denver or Buffalo this week, but they're must-starts unless you have some unbelievable depth. And if that's the case, you might want to think about offering a trade to another owner in your league who's in a must-win situation and has to start Jay Cutler.

Week 10 Fantasy Football Rankings: QBs

These rankings are for standard leagues with 6-point passing TDs.

1

Russell Wilson, Seahawks @ Cardinals.

2

Dak Prescott, Cowboys @ Falcons.

3

Matthew Stafford, Lions vs. Browns.

4

Tom Brady, Patriots @ Broncos. The Broncos defense has been out of whack recently, giving up four TDs to Carson Wentz last week. A home matchup should help them, but giving Bill Belichick an extra week off to prepare doesn't bode well. Brady should be fine overcoming this normally tough defense.

5

Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers @ Colts. If Tom Savage can get throw for over 200 yards and a touchdown, Big Ben can do a lot more damage. The Colts are one of five teams allowing QBs to average over 20 fantasy points per game (FPPG), and Roethlisberger will make it stay that way.

6

Drew Brees, Saints @ Bills. The forecast is calling for rain with a high of 44 degrees in Buffalo, and taking a dome offense into the outdoors rarely is a good thing. Brees already played in one game with rain, at Green Bay, where he threw for 331 yards and a touchdown, so it still wouldn't be surprising if Brees makes it through this shaky weather for another solid fantasy day.

7

Tyrod Taylor, Bills vs. Saints. In four home starts, Taylor has three 20-plus-point performances and an 18-point performance. The Saints defense will need to adjust to the cold weather from their normal dome atmosphere, and Taylor should be fine against a turnover-happy Saints defense, especially with his new toy Kelvin Benjamin and possibly his ol' reliable TE Charles Clay back.

8

Jared Goff, Rams vs. Texans. Goff has been dominant as of late, posting 36 and 20 fantasy points, respetively, in his last two outings. The Texans defense have not been dominant, allowing 19 and 36 fantasy points, respectively, to QBs in the past two outings. Goff hasn't been too great at home this season, averaging 13 FPPG so far, but he should be fine against the fourth-worst defense in limiting fantasy QBs.

9

Josh McCown, Jets @ Bucs. Standing at No. 11 in most points scored by a QB, McCown has surpassed all expectations this season in fantasy and in the NFL. Against the Bucs porous pass defense, McCown should continue his five-game streak of scoring 17-plus fantasy points.

10

Eli Manning, Giants @ 49ers. It's been four straight weeks a QB has thrown multi-TD passes against the 49ers, and one of those QBs was Drew Stanton. Last week, Manning had his best fantasy day in recent weeks, albeit in mostly garbage time, but Manning should find a way to be a solid streamer this week, playing against a team giving up the second-most average points to fantasy QBs.

11

Matt Ryan, Falcons vs. Cowboys. Ryan posted his first 20-point fantasy week of the season and his first 300-yard passing day since Week 1 against the Panthers last week. Dallas is middle of the pack at limiting fantasy QBs, but it has created five turnovers in the past three games. Ryan will likely have to throw often to keep up with the Cowboys offense. If he can limit turnovers, he can have another good day.

12

Cam Newton, Panthers vs. Dolphins. The impact of Kelvin Benjamin's absence forced Newton to throw more short passes and run more last week, rushing nine times for 86 yards. The Dolphins have only allowed one QB in the past five games to throw multi-TDs, but Cam's continued rushing presence (10 rushes per game, 62 YPG in last four games) should offset the limited passing the Dolphins allow.

13

Marcus Mariota, Titans vs. Bengals. Mariota has been rather unimpressive this season, posting zero top-10 QB weeks and only three in the top 13 He faces a tough Bengals defense that has only allowed one QB to score 20 points this season, which Mariota has only done once. Being at home helps Mariota, but his ceiling is limited this week.

14

Kirk Cousins, Redskins vs. Vikings. Washington's weak OL has problems last week, giving up six sacks and leaving Cousins under duress all day. Cousins struggled, despite pulling out the win, and much the same can be expected this week against the Vikings, who have the eighth most sacks this season. On top of that, the Vikings are among the best teams at limiting fantasy points to QBs.

15

Andy Dalton, Bengals @ Titans.

16

Jay Cutler, Dolphins @ Panthers.

17

Ryan Fitzpatrick, Bucs vs. Jets. Ryan Fitzpatrick revenge game? He's worth a shot against the Jets, who average the 11th-most points to fantasy QBs, but he's a risky streamer without Mike Evans.